'Rejuvenated and refreshed': Damian McKenzie on the secret to the Chiefs' winning run

Chiefs’ first five-eighth, Damian McKenzie, put the icing on the cake with the final try in the 33-17 win over the Hurricanes, propelling the club to the top of the Super Rugby Pacific table.

Down 17-8 at halftime, the visitors scored every point in the second half to stun the Hurricanes in a top-of-the-table clash between the top two sides.

The win also gave the undefeated Chiefs a clean sweep of all four New Zealand rivals this season for a Kiwi Grand Slam in the first round of fixtures, after earlier wins over the Crusaders, Highlanders, and Blues.

For veteran McKenzie, who has 102 caps for the Chiefs, his return season after a year in Japan couldn’t be better as he chases a maiden Super Rugby title with his long-time club.

“For myself, I just feel really rejuvenated and refreshed coming back from Japan,” McKenzie told Sky Sport NZ.

“It’s great mate, we are obviously seven from seven, which is awesome, and we’ve had some tough games that we’ve had to fight out.”

The 27-year-old utility has been a part of many Chiefs sides since his 2015 debut, making the playoffs in his first five seasons with the club, but each ended with exits in the quarter and semi-finals.

That run of playoff appearances came to an end in 2020 with a disastrous Super Rugby Aotearoa campaign, but the Chiefs rebounded in 2021 to make the final of the domestic competition but fell short 24-13 at the hands of the Crusaders.

In 2022 they once again fell to the Crusaders, losing in the semifinal 20-7 in Christchurch.

On what is different this season for the Chiefs compared to previous years, McKenzie put it down to a happy environment that is getting the best out of the squad.

“I think I’ve said it a lot this year, but we are just having a lot of fun within the camp and creating a really good culture,” he said.

“We are working really hard when we need to, but we are really enjoying our downtime.

“We had a bye last week, and the boys got away, refreshed and came back.

“We came back on Sunday, and you could just tell there was a lot of energy there, and usually on Sundays, it’s not [usually like that].”

With seven wins from their first seven games, the Chiefs are now undisputedly the best team in Super Rugby Pacific.

The team has an experienced core of All Black veterans like Sam Cane, Brodie Retallick, Brad Weber, and McKenzie, but they have found emerging players and depth from elsewhere in the squad to build a winning team.

Even with All Black center pair Quinn Tupaea and Anton Lienert-Brown out injured, along with the in-form Alex Nankivell, the Chiefs’ midfield stocks have produced.

In just his second start, Daniel Rona was able to produce a great finish to cap off a team try and open the scoring at Sky Stadium.

Shaun Stevenson has been the form player in the competition, hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho has become the first-choice All Black No 2, while young guns like halfback Cortez Ratima and winger Emoni Narawa continue to impress.

Ratima came off the bench and scored a solo try sniping off the back of the scrum, running through multiple Hurricanes defenders.

“He’s a class player obviously,” McKenzie said of his young halfback.

“We’ve got Spud [Brad Weber] there who starts, our skip, he does a great job, and then Cortez just brings a lot of spark off the bench.

“He’s great impact, came on and scored a try, drives the forwards around and puts us in the right areas of the park. He’s got a really bright future.

“I must commend the halfback on the other side, Cam [Roigard], he’s playing really good rugby as well so the future is bright for the 9s in New Zealand.”

The Chiefs return home to play the Fijian Drua in round nine where they will look to extend their lead as the competition’s number one seed.